On Prof. Matsusaka's lecture

Prof. Matsusaka of Waseda University gave a special lecture under the title of “English sounds and Japanese sounds” yesterday. Let me tell you my impression about it.

There are two things I learned from the lecture. For one thing, I was so surprised to know that there are a couple of ways of producing consonants such as “r”, “f”, and “th”. In particular, how to pronounce “r” was an eye-opener to me because the way was different from the one I knew of (having said so, I now remember UG-sensei has already given us two forms of articulating "r".

Another thing that I learned lied in the way the professor talked. He used his personal episodes with some poses inserted very effectively and also asked a plenty of questions to attract the audience. With these techniques of presentation, it was much easier for us to focus on what he was trying to get across.

After listening to this talk, I came away with thinking that I would like to brush up on my English pronunciation. (seventh-dan)